Improved hat-box and valise



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ZOHETH S. DURFEE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED HAT-BOX AND VALlSE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,792, dated October 16, 1866..

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Z. S. DURFEE, of Philadelphia, iu the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Mode of Combining Hat-Boxes and Valises or Traveling Bags, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in combining a box for carrying` hats or bonnets with a modifica.-

'tion of the common style of traveling-bag or valise.

In carrying my invention into et't'cct, I construct a rim, A, of any convenient section, but preferablyoval, which rim I sometimes perforate with a suitable number ot holes for riveting, or otherwise attaching the material forming the bag thereto. I generally, however, prefer to attach the bag to this rim by another plan, hereinafter to be shown. This bag may be otl any convenient shape and dimensions, and be fashioned to suit the taste of the maker or the uses to which it is to be applied.

To the rim A, I attach tirmly the inverted flanged box B B B, the flanges ol" which form the bottom of the bag, the space in the bag being made annular by the intrusion ot' the main part of the box B B B. This box B B B may be made of any section, to accommodate the form of the hat or bonnet to be carried therein, and may be constructed of any suitable material, though I prefer it to be made of thin sheet metal, with corrugations running around its sides and radially on its nanges, for the purpose of stift'ening it.

Into the open bottom of the rim A, I iit closely the cover C C, shutting against ledges or projections formed on the inside oi' A at a suitable distance from its lower edge. I provide this cover with a handle7 which can be turned aside when not in use, and I so construct the cover and insert it into the rim A as that when the bag is standing on the ground or elsewhere the cover will be clear therefrom, as shown. This cover C may be fastened into the rim A by two bolts or locks, c c, at opposite ends of the longest axis thereof, or in any other convenient way. Suftieient space must, however, be left between C and the iianges of B to admit the brim of the hat, as will be seen in the drawings, and buttons b b may be attached at suitable points on the anges of B, in order to retain the hat in its posit-ion within the box when the cover C is removed.

Upon the inner surface ot the cover C, I fasten a box, D D', of a size and section such that it will enter loosely the body of the hat or bonnet for which the hat-box is to be used, in order to utilize the space inside the hat or bonnet, somewhat as is now done in some hatboxes of ordinary construction. I prefer to malte this boxin two parts, the upper and smaller part, D, being so constructed as to form an entirely separate box, which may be used for a dressing-case, and which is to shut upon and form a cover to the lower part, D.

I fasten the box D' to D in any convenient way, but preferably by an elastic band or strap attached to small hooks, as c c, Figure 2 5 and the lower or main part D may, as shown, be fastened to the cover C in the same way, or it may be fastened by bolts or hooks, or inv anywise which will permit its being readily removed when it is desired to use the whole. space in the hat-box for clothing or miscellaneous articles.

The modes of Fastening the top or bag to the hat-box may be various 5 but, in general, I prefer to fasten the bag to a separate rim of metal, F, and then fasten this metal to the rim A, as shown.

rIhe frame used in the bag may be of any ot' the common styles which will suit the case; but when it is desired to make the bag of the ordinary valise forIn-that is, to open low down I then attach the frame ot' the bag to the rim A with a double joint, as shown in Fig. 3, the distance between the two pins or rivets g g being governed by the size of the bag and the width and shape it is desired the mouth shall have.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Combining a hat-box with a moditication of the common traveling-bag or valise, substantially as and in the manner described, and shown in the accompanying drawings and model. A

7. S. DURFEE. 

